Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Anthony Hopkins | ... | Ted Crawford | |
Ryan Gosling | ... | Willy Beachum | |
David Strathairn | ... | DA Joe Lobruto | |
Rosamund Pike | ... | Nikki Gardner | |
Embeth Davidtz | ... | Jennifer Crawford | |
Billy Burke | ... | Lt. Rob Nunally | |
Cliff Curtis | ... | Detective Flores | |
Fiona Shaw | ... | Judge Robinson | |
Bob Gunton | ... | Judge Gardner | |
Josh Stamberg | ... | Norman Foster | |
Xander Berkeley | ... | Judge Moran | |
Zoe Kazan | ... | Mona | |
Judith Scott | ... | Resident | |
Gary Carlos Cervantes | ... | Ciro (as Carlos Cervantes) | |
Petrea Burchard | ... | Dr. Marion Kang |
Wealthy, brilliant, and meticulous Ted Crawford, a structural engineer in Los Angeles, shoots his wife Jennifer and entraps her lover, Lieutenant Robert "Rob" Nunally. He signs a confession. At the arraignment, he asserts his rights to represent himself and asks the court to move immediately to trial. The prosecutor is Willy Beachum, a hotshot who's soon to join a fancy civil-law firm, told by everyone it's an open and shut case. Crawford sees Beachum's weakness, the hairline fracture of his character: Willy's a winner. The engineer sets in motion a clockwork crime with all of the objects moving in ways he predicts. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
I'd read a few reviews which mentioned that the film seemed overlong, laboured, poorly acted, full of clichés, etc. But I went to see it anyway - and was quite pleasantly surprised. The plot, whilst not exactly original, was strong enough to hold the attention all the way through. And I enjoyed having a situation where the 'good guy' was an unsympathetic character. In all, I thought the performances - particularly those of Hopkins and Gosling - were excellent... Hopkins especially. I have to admit that, with a few exceptions (The World's Fastest Indian and Proof amongst them) I've never rated him very highly as an actor. I must be one of the few people who thought he was miscast in The Silence of the Lambs: I thought he hammed it up so much that it detracted from the sense of menace he was supposed to convey. Not so in this film. Here, that sense is very genuine and palpable. Excellently done. My only criticism, I suppose, is that I twigged the ending about half-way through, which rather spoilt it. Which isn't to say that it's necessarily obvious. There was one scene, though, which I think gave the game away. Maybe they should have cut it. Despite that, though, it was still well worth the money for me. A very entertaining film.